Winter Weather Logistics

The snow that has covered the city streets here in Springfield mostly melted away over the weekend. With much of the snow gone (for now), I thought this might be a nice time to reflect on some of the logistical challenges that we faced during our recent bout of winter weather.

Since becoming a one-car family, Ginger picked up a new job that requires her to commute to the Branson area three times a week. This means that for those three days, I'm responsible for getting our son to preschool and myself to work without a motor vehicle. In mild weather, this is not a problem; I hitch the trailer to my road bike, load up the boy, and off we go. In rainy conditions, the trek is a bit soggy, but not terrible. Winter weather is a bit more tricky, though.

The first few days after the snow fell, I hitched the trailer to my mountain bike and made my usual commute. But even with 2-inch knobbies, the mountain bike gets bogged down in loose snow, and I pitifully went down in a few inches of powder trying to get home on the second day. I was also a nervous wreck during the trip to preschool, absolutely certain that my son and I were going to be struck by someone driving like an idiot in the poor road conditions.

After giving up on the bike, Ginger spent a few days working from home, and I was able to use the car for the commute. But one of the final days in which the roads were still covered, I was without a car, I had given up on travelling by bicycle, and if I walked, I knew I was going to be carrying the boy on my shoulders most of the way. So we took the bus. There's a bus stop right around the corner from our house, with the next stop just three-or-so blocks from my son's preschool.

The bus schedule worked out perfectly with our normal morning routine, and the kiddo loved riding the big bus. As a bonus, he didn't have to wear his seat belt, which made it that much more cool. I think as far as efficiency and safety are concerned, Springfield's Transit Services will be my go-to commuting method during winter weather from here on out.